


Orpheus and Paris

by siderealSandman



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Demigod AU, M/M, Percy Jackson AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:39:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealSandman/pseuds/siderealSandman
Summary: In which the son of Aphrodite falls for Hades' only living heir.A love story nowhere near as tragic as people think it's going to be.





	Orpheus and Paris

In the dark of Cabin 10, staring up at the roof of his bunk, Adrien could hear the distant plucking of a harp as waves lapped lazily against the shoreline.

All things considered, it wasn’t surprising that he was having trouble sleeping; less than twenty-four hours earlier his father’s limo was nearly destroyed by a rampaging Cyclops that the middle-aged fashion mogul dispatched with a quick flick of a sword he drew from seemingly nowhere. From there, it was somewhat of a blur of packing, private jet rides, and clandestine car trips to the sunny shores of Long Island, New York, a silver pen containing the only means of protection he had in case other monsters attacked.

_Monsters._

He could still scarcely believe it. If someone had told him that he was the product of an affair between his mother and the Greco-Roman goddess of love and beauty a few days ago, he would have been dialing Gorilla’s number as quickly as he could while backing away from them. Now, surrounded by dozens of half-siblings he never knew existed, Adrien didn’t quite know what to make of his current situation. He still thought he was going to wake up, home in Paris, and the whole thing would have been just a fever dream brought on by bad cheese; the attack, the journey, the music-

Sitting up in bed, Adrien strained his ears over the snoring of his bunkmate to hear the almost aimless melody that meandered its way across the waves. It was a song that sounded so familiar; like the chorus to something he had heard on the radio years ago. It couldnt’ve been coming from far, judging by the way it cut through the sound of twenty-five teenagers’ beauty sleep, so, clutching his pen and carrying his sneakers, Adrien tip-toed towards the door as quietly as possible, stepping out into the warm Long Island night.

He didn’t know if there was anyone roaming the camp-grounds enforcing curfew, so Adrien stuck to the shadows as much as possible, straining his ears for the music that seemed to beat in time with the waves. Adrien couldn’t say he knew his way around camp that well, but the symphony of water and music carried across the sands and pulled him towards the beach. The light of the full moon beat down on the rolling surf, coming to rest on a dark-skinned figure sitting on the shoreline, dressed in a simple black tank-top and shorts.

As Adrien approached, he idly wondered if sirens came in the form of handsome teenage boys, and wondered if he was wandering to his death by drowning. His shoe snapped a piece of driftwood, and before Adrien could react, the other boy was on his feet, instrument tucked under one arm as a glittering shortsword pointed at him in the other. They froze as they locked eyes for a long moment, hands at their weapons ready to strike. Then the other boy let out a nervous laugh, stowing his sword in his belt.

“ _Di_ fuckin’ _immortales,_ man, you scared the hell out of me,” the young man laughed, teeth glimmering in the moonlight.

“S-Sorry!” Adrien laughed, stowing his staff. “I-I couldn’t sleep and…well, I was listening to your music and-”

“You’re a _bad_ liar, dude,” the other boy chuckled, anxiously plucking a few strings and sending another few notes into the air. “Like, really _really_ bad.”

Adrien offered an apologetic chuckle as the musician examined him. “Wait…you’re the new kid, right? Just flew in from Paris this morning…Adrien something?”

“Agreste,” Adrien said, offering his hand out for a shake, before transitioning into a fist-bump, before transitioning into a shaky wave all within the span of a few seconds. “Son of Aphrodite

“Yeah…they said you were homeschooled,” the young man chuckled, lightly bumping the back of his hand against Adrien’s. “Nino Lahiffe; nocturnal lyrist.”

“Nino Lahiffe,” Adrien echoed, racking his brain as he looked the young man over and tried to make an educated guess about his godly parent. “And, y-yeah I just got here.”

“First day jitters?” Nino asked, sitting down in the sand and motioning to the ground beside him. “S’cool; I remember those.”

“How long have you been here?” Adrien asked, sitting cross-legged next to Nino, watching him pluck his lyre almost distractedly.

“Ten years now,” Nino said, glancing out over the ocean. “They brought me here after mom passed; been a year-rounder ever since.”

“Oh…” Adrien said, arms wrapping around his legs. “I’m sorry.”

“Eh, I can’t say I miss her that much,” Nino shrugged, with a smile that was almost too casual. “…haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”

“I…w-well, I sometimes do shoots for my fath… _step_ -father’s fashion company,” Adrien said, kicking his sneakers off as his toes dig into the sand.

“Oh _shit_ you’re the son of that _Gabriel_ dude!” Nino said, hand slapping against his forehead. “Wow, there is a girl in Cabin Seven that is going to _flip_ when she finds out!”

“I’d rather there be not so much flipping, if that’s okay,” Adrien said.

“Hands are tied; girl’s set on being the next Anna Wintour,” Nino said, leaning back as he looked out over the water. “You might end up her model sooner or later; we all pretty much have.”

“Sounds like a pretty tight group you guys got here,” Adrien said softly, glancing across at Nino.

“We get pretty tight…we _are_ family after all,” Nino laughed. “Though, if you got your eye on someone, go ahead and make a play. No biological relation between us, so we ducked the incest bar.”

“That’s…good to know,” Adrien said, scratching his arms anxiously. “Though I don’t think I’m ready to date yet.”

“Give it time; something about having your life threatened by monsters and surrounded by hot guys and girls makes people more prone to sloppy beachside makeouts,” Nino said, one leg crossing on the other as he leaned back on the sand.

“You speaking from experience?” Adrien asked, earning him a small smirk from Nino.

“Might be,” Nino chuckled. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell though.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Adrien blurted out, watching Nino’s fingers walk across the strings almost hypnotically.

“Don’t tell me a guy like you’s never been kissed,” Nino scoffed, sitting up in the sand.

“A guy like me?”

“Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Handsome doesn’t have a little _mademoiselle_ waiting for him back in Paris?” Nino asked, arching an eyebrow as Adrien’s cheeks flushed. “Or a little _monsieur_ if that’s how you butter your croissant?”

“N-Neither!” Adrien said, holding up his hands. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t mind the butter on _either_ side of the croissant but-”

“Relax,” Nino said, nudging his shoulder lightly. “Just hazing the new kid.”

“Hazing?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Nino said with a toothy grin. “The son of Hades is gonna summon a hoard of skeletons for you guys to fight tomorrow?”

“S-Skeletons?!” Adrien spluttered. “Wh-What happens if you don’t beat them?!”

“Well…skeletons have gotta come from somewhere, right?” Nino sighed as Adrien narrowed his eyes at him.

“…you’re messing with me, aren’t you?” Adrien said.

“You’re picking up quick, Paris,” Nino said, golf-clapping a little.

“I have to, don’t I?” Adrien sighed, flopping back on the sand and staring up at the night sky. “I mean…yesterday I was just a student and part-time model…today I learned that I’m the lovechild of Aphrodite, my father is a son of Athena and isn’t my real father, and apparently monsters want me dead because of that.”

Nino propped himself up on one hand, harp tucked under his arm as he stared at the young man across the sand.

“Lot to swallow, huh?” Nino said softly.

“Too much sometimes,” Adrien muttered, turning to look at him. “Does it get easier?”

“With time,” Nino said, offering him a reassuring smile. “So long as you don’t flake on training.”

“That’s _tomorrow,_ isn’t it?” Adrien groaned, glancing at the clock on the phone. “I should probably get to bed, huh?”

“Son of Hades isn’t gonna go easy on you, Paris,” Nino said, hopping to his feet and offering Adrien a hand.

“Is this a thing now?” Adrien asked, grabbing Nino’s hand and hauling himself to his feet. “Like the city or like Helen’s boyfriend?”

“Either,” Nino said, tossing Adrien his shoes. “Though if your mom, Athena, and Hera ask you to judge a beauty contest-”

“ _Je ne parle pas grec,”_ Adrien chuckled, holding his hands up.

“Yeah…whatever that means,” Nino said, tapping his lyre against Adrien’s back as they traipsed back towards the camp, an easy silence falling between them, punctuated by the occasional lyre pluck.

“Nice lyre,” Adrien said after a moment, eyeing the bone-white frame and glittering silver strings.

“Present from my dad,” Nino said, holding it up in the moonlight as Adrien mentally registered that this probably meant he was Apollo’s scion. “Used to belong to Orpheus, if you can believe it.”

“Get out.”

“On Styx, my man,” Nino said, plucking an arpeggio. “Same one that convinced Hades to let wifey out.”

“That…didn’t end so well, did it?” Adrien asked as they approached Aphrodite’s cabin.

“Guy didn’t trust the gods, that’s why,” Nino said.

“Or didn’t trust his own partner,” Adrien said, earning a strange look from Nino.

“How do you figure?”

Adrien bit his lip. “Well…he should have known that his wife would follow him out of Tartarus. He should have trusted that she would follow him and just walked out when he had the chance.”

“You could do that?” Nino asked, raising an eyebrow. “Just...walk into Tartarus and trust that your partner would walk out with you?”

“Well…if they were the right person,” Adrien said, scuffling on the path outside Cabin Ten as he shot a small, shaky smile in Nino’s direction. “Yeah…I’d like to think I’d do anything for them.”

Nino blinked, scratching the back of his neck as he let out a small laugh. “Wow, they really put you in the right cabin, didn’t they Paris?”

“What can I say; every Frenchman has the soul of a lover,” Adrien said, plucking a rose from the bush outside and flourishing in Nino’s direction with a waggle of his eyebrow.

“Alright, chill Casanova; tomorrow we find out if you got the soul of a fighter too,” Nino said, backing up towards the other cabins. “I’ll look for you.”

“I’ll be there,” Adrien said, offering him a small wave as he retreated. “Don’t look back now, Orpheus.”

Nino chuckled, turning around as he headed toward his cabin. When he thought Adrien wasn’t looking, he spared a glance back, long enough to see Adrien’s exasperated expression and shoot an apologetic smile before resuming his journey, fingers plucking the harp absentmindedly.

Adrien watched him go for a moment, wandering into the darkness between the cabins with a tune dancing on the tips of his fingers as he left. It took him a long moment to regain his bearings; a long moment spent feeling the warm breeze against his skin, the moonlight beating down on him from above, and willing his heart to stop its frenetic beating in time to the song Nino left him with.

Whatever sleep he hoped to find was never going to come now that he heard that song and realized, with some wistful anticipation, that it was the only song he wanted to hear ever again.

* * *

“Hey, Nathanael!” Adrien called, jogging up to the Apollo cabin councilor as they made their way towards the training pitch.

“Hm?” Nathanael said, slowing down and shouldering his spear. “Something you wanted?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if Nino got back okay last night,” Adrien said, twirling his staff as Nathanael shot him an odd look.

“Why would I know if Nino got back okay?” Nathanael asked.

“He’s…Apollo cabin, right?” Adrien frowned as Nathanael let out a small chuckle.

“I can see how you might get that impression,” Nathanael said as they approached the training pitch. “But I’m afraid he’s not one of mine.”

“Then whose son is…” As they crested the hill, they were greeted by a small squad of lightly armed skeletons, milling around a figure in black leather armor, hand lazily resting on the pommel of a shortsword. There were some nervous jitters as they approached, with some of the newer campers staying behind their counselors as the training group.

“Alright, you guys,” the black clad figure said in a voice that made Adrien’s heart drop as he peeled off his helmet, revealing a familiar pair of gold eyes that scanned the crowd approvingly. “My friends here have donated their time to be your first live training dummies…well, live is kinda the wrong word for it, but you know.”

There was a wave of scattered laughter as Nino’s eyes landed on Adrien, eyebrow raising as Adrien shot him a small smile.

“Yeah…looks like you made friends with the only living son of Hades,” Nathanael said, nudging Adrien lightly. “Don’t worry; he’s not as scary as the skeletons make him look.”

“Tell you what,” Nino said, pulling his phone out. “Whoever puts my bony friends down the quickest gets commissary lunch on me…any volunteers.”

As the rest of the crowd shrank back, Adrien found himself stepping forward, staff extended as the skeletons closed in around him.

“Anything I want, Orpheus?” Adrien asked, shooting Nino a challenging glare.

“Anything your little heart desires, Paris,” Nino said, shooting him a small wink as the practice field turned into a storm of silver and bonedust.


End file.
